Thursday, May 12, 2005

Simmons Staffer: Democrats Want to see Base Closed

This story from The Hill shows what Simmons's strategy might be if the base were to be on the BRAC list tomorrow:

“There are opponents of Congressman Simmons who would love to see the base shut down,” [Simmons Chief of Staff Todd] Mitchell said. “They don’t seem to be able to win on tying Rob to the president or [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay [R-Texas], so they would love to see the base on the list.”

Brian Hamel, a former GOP congressional candidate in Maine who now consults for communities facing military-base closures, said that if the base is closed Democrats would definitely use that against Simmons by citing the immediate economic loss to the district. (Savodnik)

Yes, Democrats will use the closure of the base against Simmons. And why not? He made it a campaign issue in 2004. If the base stays open, he'll be trumpeting it to the stars in 2006. Absolutely, Simmons has left himself wide open for that line of attack.

The idea that Democrats secretly want to see the base closed is nonsense. I imagine that only Republicans work at the base or benefit economically from its existence, right? This statement by Mitchell is more than a little panicked and desperate, and shows just how worried Simmons is about his political future.

Therefore, if the base goes, expect to see a lot of attacks on Democrats for being anti-military out of the Simmons camp.

4 comments:

It's a "see the forest for the trees" issue, and it comes up all the time.

The 1,000th soldier to die in Iraq died near the time of the Dem Convention. There was a confusion within many people on how to deal with it. Nobody felt that it was good that the soldier died -- but, people did recognize that an effect of the death was the negative P.R. toward Bush.

This isn't different on its face. Nobody wants to see the base closed, but if it closes, it's effect is negative toward Simmons, which (if you are a Dem) is a good thing.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That's all the Dems are suggesting.

So if the base stays open, it will be entirely the result of Simmons' valiant efforts. If the base closes, it will be entirely the the fault of Democrats (presumably the Joe Courtney cabal) secretly conspiring to foil the effectiveness of his courageous advocacy. Who can argue with that kind of selfless logic?